the good old days poverty crime and terror in victorian london

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Were things really better in the 'good old days'. The Victorian era is often thought of as an age of propriety, inventions and the British stiff upper lip. However, in a world of extremes between the rich and poor, for most people it was often hellish, violent and filled with death. In The Good Old Days she reveals exactly what it was like for those on the streets that history has forgotten. Meet: The madame whose mysterious East End chambers were visited nightly by the aristocracy. The psychic who 'solved' the Jack the Ripper murders. The conwoman, bigamist and murderer who left twenty-one bodies in her wake. The Lambeth Poisoner, sewer-hunters, oyster sellers and many other colourful characters. O'Neill leads us through fog-bound streets into rat-infested slums, boozers, penny gaffs and brothels to expose the teeming underbelly of London in the reign of Queen Victoria. Praise for The Good Old Days 'A world of hunger, squalor, disease and pain' - Daily Telegraph 'Terrific. A delightful foray through nineteenth century murder and mayhem' - Spectator 'Packed with shocking and tragic tales' - Big Issue Praise for Gilda O'Neill '[Gives a] voice to memories of a changing East End' - The Guardian 'A shocking book which, for once, should dispel the myth that life in the East End was one long knees-up' - Daily Express 'O'Neill chronicles the filth and poverty with leery aplomb, then sobers things up with sharp social commentary' - The Scotsman Gilda O'Neill (1951-2010) took three university degrees and was awarded an honorary doctorate for her work on the East End. In 1990 O'Neill began writing full-time. She published thirteen novels and six works of non-fiction, including East End Tales. She also broadcasted, gave talks and wrote articles about east London history. She tragically died in 2010 from a sudden illness.

"Sherlock Holmes, arguably the most famous fictional private detective, is known to many purely through his appearances on film. However he had a life on the page long before he made it to the silver screen. This book looks at the origins of the character, examines the original stories and their inconsistencies before moving on to look at his film career and the many actors who have protrayed him." -- Cover, page [4].

A Book of the Year for The Economist and the Observer Our world seems to be collapsing. The daily news cycle reports the deterioration: divisive politics across the Western world, racism, poverty, war, inequality, hunger. While politicians, journalists and activists from all sides talk about the damage done, Johan Norberg offers an illuminating and heartening analysis of just how far we have come in tackling the greatest problems facing humanity. In the face of fear-mongering, darkness and division, the facts are unequivocal: the golden age is now.

Dark and foggy Victorian streets, the murderous madman, the arsenic-laced evening meal—we all think we know the realities of Victorian crime. Adrian Gray's book thrillingly reflects some of this, ranging over classic murders by knife and poison. But it also covers much more, taking the reader into less familiar parts of Victorian life, uncovering the wicked, the vengeful, the foolish, and the hopeless amongst the criminal world of the nineteenth century. Here you will encounter the women who sold their children, the bankers who stole the money they were supposed to keep safe, smugglers, highwaymen, the first terrorists, ruthless "footpads" and the "mesmerists" who fooled a credulous public, even the Salvationist band that went to gaol. The book takes in the cities, villages, lanes, mills, and ships of the period. In the process of telling a host of human tales, the author shows how our laws today have been shaped by what the Victorians considered acceptable—or made illegal.

This Man Booker Award Finalist and Commonwealth Prize-winner is an “unforgettable” tale of crime and survival in colonial Australia (Chicago Tribune). In 1806 William Thornhill, an illiterate English bargeman and a man of quick temper but deep compassion, steals a load of wood and, as a part of his lenient sentence, is deported, along with his beloved wife, Sal, to the New South Wales colony in what would become Australia. The Secret River is the tale of William and Sal’s deep love for their small, exotic corner of the new world, and William’s gradual realization that if he wants to make a home for his family, he must forcibly take the land from the people who came before him. Acclaimed around the world, The Secret River is a “magnificent” work of historical fiction that “pulls us ever deeper into a time when one community’s opportunity spelled another’s doom” (The New Yorker).

'Every page is a delight. Every chapter made vivid by a writer who has poured heart and soul into her book'. Val Hennessy, Daily Mail The East End of London - cockneys, criminals, street markets, pub singalongs, dog racing, jellied eels ... it is a place at once appealing and unruly, comforting and incomprehensible. Gilda O'Neill, an East Ender herself shows there is more to this fascinating area than a collection of cliched images. Using oral history and more traditional sources she builds up a powerful image of this community - bringing to us, with wit and honesty, the real story of London's East End

In 1830, the dominant social outlook of the early Victorians was a paternalism that looked to property, the Church, and local Justices of the Peace to govern society and deal with its ills. By 1860, however, the dominant social outlook had become a vision of a laissez faire society that relied on economic laws, self-reliance, and the vigorous philanthropy of voluntary societies. This book describes and analyzes these changes, which arose from the rapid growth of industry, towns, population, and the middle and working classes. Paternalism did not entirely fade away, however, just as a laissez faire vision had long antedated 1830. Both were part of a social conscience also defined by a revived philanthropy, a new humanitarianism, and a grudging acceptance of an expanded government, all of which reflected a strong revival of religion as well as the growth of rationalism. The new dominance of a laissez faire vision was dramatically evident in the triumph of political economy. By 1860, only a few doubted the eternal verities of the economists’ voluminous writings. Few also doubted the verities of those who preached self-reliance, who supported the New Poor Law’s severity to persons who were not self-reliant, and who inspired education measures to promote that indispensable virtue. If economic laws and self-reliance failed to prevent distress, the philanthropists and voluntary societies would step in. Such a vision proved far more buoyant and effective than a paternalism whose narrow and rural Anglican base made it unable to cope with the downside of an industrial-urban Britain. But the vision of a laissez faire society was not without its flaws. Its harmonious economic laws and its hope in self-reliance did not prevent gross exploitation and acute distress, and however beneficent were its philanthropists, they fell far short of mitigating these evils. This vision also found a rival in an expanded government. Two powerful ideas—the idea of a paternal government and the idea of a utilitarian state—helped create the expansion of government services. A reluctant belief in governmental power thus joined the many other ideas that defined the Victorian’s social conscience.

The miniscule motion of a butterfly’s wings can trigger a tornado half a world away, according to chaos theory. Catharine A. MacKinnon’s collected work on gender inequality—including new pieces—argues that the right seemingly minor interventions in the legal realm can have a butterfly effect that generates major social and cultural transformations.

Investigate one of the most compelling killers of all time! Jack the Ripper: The Casebook takes readers on a tour of Victorian London’s underworld where the slayings took place, from street corner taverns to unsavory lodging houses. One by one the murder victims are revealed, the circumstances of their killings investigated, and the suspects analyzed. What amateur sleuths will find most fascinating here are the many facsimiles of contemporary documents, including letters allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper to police and elsewhere, police reports, press articles, and personal correspondence. These facsimiles provide readers with access to all the available information so they, too, can try to unravel this century-old mystery.